Ten Alternative Tips for New Teachers
You see a lot of lists this time of year--lists about homework, parent-teacher relationships, and the ever-popular "advice for new teachers" (even though what novice teachers want most is a free day off because the boiler blew up). Most advice lists are upbeat and didactic. My list is decidedly not perky, but here are some less-obvious things I think new teachers need to know.
#1) Listen to advice (your mentor, teachers in the lounge, books for new teachers)-- but trust your gut. Your goal is becoming an authentic teacher, one with autonomy, mastery and purpose. You will inevitably build a practice by stealing ideas from hundreds of people. The concepts you retain and embed into daily work are those that align and resonate with your core beliefs about education, which will change over time. Learn to trust the little interior voice that tells you what "works" for your colleague--her behavior rewards system based on Jolly Ranchers, say-- may be totally wrong for you, in spite of the fact that her class walks quietly in a straight line
